The Project
by Voxus Lumith
Summary: Angels! EVAs! NERV! Just another day in Tokyo-3! Or is it? Asuka awakens from a horrible dream after moving into an apartment with Rei and Shinji. The dream hurt her quite a bit. So much so that she cannot really fall asleep the next night. She hears something in the room Misato locked up, and goes to investigate. What is going on? Is it all a dream?
1. Chapter 1

Dream analysis had started long ago, when a famous psychologist thought that dreams were a peak into the unconscious mind. These dreams could show us things that our instincts or our deeper thoughts truly wanted, and our conscious mind could not accept or would not allow. It could also be something that the person fears most. The ability to fly, to experience death without death, or to simply tell someone that you felt, that every fiber of your being, that they were the one you are destined to be with.

Asuka shoots up out of bed, sweating and out of breath. Her eyes darted around the room as she shoved the hair away from her face. _What the hell was that?_ She thought to herself. After tying back her hair, she began looking herself over. _Nothing looks broken, and nothing appears to be out of place… then… what the… why?_

A bad dream. She told herself that as she shot up from bed and out the door. She had been moved to NERV HQ in an apartment there to more easily reach her if another angel were to make its way to Earth. All of her stuff had been carefully moved, but it seemed some things just could not make it. "Stupid. How could they forget that gown? I loved that thing." She stretched a little, and ran her eyes over the living room. No one was awake yet. All of the Children had been put in the same place, and luckily, all had gotten their own rooms. Asuka moved to the couch and flopped down onto it, turning on the television to see if anything was going on. Her mind was still swirling from the dream she had, or the nightmare. It slowly began to fade just as Shinji walked in. "Hey Shinji, are you making breakfast?" She asked politely as possible, her mind beginning to race again with the dream.

"Yeah, I can. Why? Do you want something special instead of just toast, eggs, and bacon?" He replied, puzzled. He had made breakfast for the three of them for the past few days. Each day was almost the same. He changed the meat every so often or added a little cheese to the eggs.

"Just eggs for me. And some fish if we have any," She replied after a pause.

"I'll see what I can do Asuka."

"Thanks."

Silence followed soon after. The two had never gotten along well, but now they at least spoke to each other civilly. The dream could be a part of why Asuka was being so nice as well. It all began to come back to her now.

She sat in a room, with cold tiled floors and no windows. The single light flickered in strange patterns. She was naked. A single door stared back at her with a grate of sorts for a viewing port. She had a bed, a sheet, and one pillow. The mattress smelled… strange. Something like her mother and father's when they were both around. A smell of… closeness; sex. That's what it was; unbridled, passionate, animalistic and hedonistic sex. She didn't like it to say the least. There was also a small blood trail, from the bed, to the door, a small pool of it on the bottom side of the pillow.

Terrified already, she checked herself. She had scrapes, cuts, and even some large scar tissue all over her body. Her breasts were bruised somehow. Her chest hurt, and she could taste blood. Her throat was dry, and she felt very hungry; hungry and scared.

The room was an eerie kind of quiet; the kind that feels as if someone is watching you, constantly going over every small detail of your entirety; the kind of stare and feeling of dread that is a foreshadowing to something much worse. Her breathing and the flicker of light were the only sound emanating from the room. Then, a knock at the door sounded.

It rasped three times, and each time, it shook Asuka to the bone. Her heart raced and felt as if it would explode in her chest if she did not do what this knock wanted. The door cracked, and in walked someone of considerable power; someone whom she despised for different reasons in this dream entirely than in reality; someone who had filled her world with despair, hate, anguish, regret, and pain in this dream; Shinji Ikari.

He moved slowly, as if he knew that there was no escape for Asuka; as if toying with her. He had a broad smile on his face. A look that said he knew what was going on and he knew he would enjoy himself, no matter what was going to happen. He got to the bed, and looked down at it, flipping the pillow over. He glared at the blood splotching on the pillow, the sheet, and on the floor.

"Asuka," his voice felt like a ten ton weight on her shoulders. "What is this?"

Without thinking, she spoke. "Blood."

Shinji rushed her. A swift left hook caught her face and she went down. The pain came fast. Red head filled her cheek as she felt the taste of blood and bits of her cheek in her teeth.

"I know that. Where did the blood come from?" He replied, checking his hand to see if he damaged himself in the swing.

"It came from… me." Meekly this time. Asuka was not one to accept defeat… But this felt as if she were owned by him, like a slave.

"YOU BLED!?" The scream resonated in the tiled room. It echoed and bounced around in Asuka's head. She couldn't stand it. She pushed herself up off of the ground, and tried to run for the door. Shinji was fast on her, but she made it just out the door, until it came crashing in on her body. That was the moment she woke up.

"How do you want the eggs Asuka?" Shinji said again for the third time.

"Oh… just… sunny side up. Just blacken the fish if you have to. I can eat that." She replied after clearing her throat.

"Gotcha."

Time passed as the television blared on about the state of Earth and Tokyo-3. The angels seemed to have ceased their attacks, but as the three Children knew, they were still coming. Slowly but surely, they were coming. Rei stepped into the room, a pair of glasses adorning her face lopsidedly. She gave a small yawn and settled with her legs curled up to her chest in a chair next to the table in the kitchen. "Good morning Asuka," She said in the same dry, quiet tone.

"Morning Ayanami."

_That girl._ She thought to herself. _Why is he so interested in her? She's just… _Her brain was occupied by too many things. She couldn't come up with an insult harsh enough in her mind at the moment. "Anyone heard anything from Misato?" _Or Kaji for that matter?_

"Not me," Shinji replied, dumping the sunny eggs on a plate along with some seared fish that smelled quite delicious. "You're foods ready Asuka."

"Neither have I," Rei replied, sitting at the table still, looking over the food prepared for her; scrambled eggs, a dash of pepper, and a small bowl of rice.

"Figures. I wonder what happened? Misato normally checks up on us pretty often, either by phone or whatever. Last time I saw her it was when we all moved in. She had some box of stuff and put it in that one room."

The room she referred to was something they could not investigate. Misato had the only key. When they had checked it out beforehand, it simply looked like a normal room. Walls, floor, a door, lights, a window; it was bare of anything out of the ordinary. They moved in on Monday, and now, it being Thursday, they were beginning to worry. Or at least some of them were.

"Could there have been an Angel?" Shinji said with a small gasp or fear.

"We would have been notified and sent into battle if that were the case. There is no need to worry." Rei replied, fixing her crooked glasses and fiddling with her food. Asuka rose from her seat and moved over to the table. "Thanks for the food Shinji," She said before they all began to dig in. "Yeah. Misato would have said something if there were an angel. I doubt it is that."

"Did NERV get attacked by something else then? Like a terrorist group or something?"

"Would you wake up? No one would do that. Not here anyway. Look at the world Shinji. It's in shambles. We're their last hope so to speak. Unless they have some stupid idea on how to kill Angel's better than us, they aren't going to be hurting us anytime soon." Asuka replied; her face now filled with fish.

The rest of breakfast goes by slowly. The school that they attended had been shut down due to damages, so they did not have much to do throughout their day. Asuka sat outside on the balcony reading, while Rei kept to herself in her room. Shinji spent his time inside cooking, cleaning, or watching television. The day drug by in-between meals, but now, at nightfall, it was time for them to all part and sleep once more.

"Goodnight Asuka, Shinji," Rei said, as she began walking to her room.

They both spouted their own good nights before retreating into their own rooms for the night. Soon, snoring from Shinji's room could be heard.

Asuka on the other hand was wide awake. Whispering to herself, she was still reading to keep herself awake. "No way am I having that dream again. I can't go two days without good rest. That's absurd!" She shook her head. An hour passed as her digital clock displayed the coming of midnight, and chimed a little. "Alright. Guess I'll head to bed. I just… I hope that dream doesn't happen again."

Hidden, the darkness draped over like a cowl of midnight and silence, the figure moved through the room slowly. Depositing heels by the door, the figure moved slowly into the living room. _Good. _It thought to itself. _They are asleep. Time to get to work_. Moving ever so slowly as to not wake the Children, the figure unlocked the door to a single room at the end of the large apartment. Inside, a huge setup was ready to be turned on. Monitors surrounded the tiny seat in the floor, where a keyboard was ready for any input. A large machine of sorts with a few dials and knobs displayed a soft orange light, indicating a sleep cycle or passive mode was active. "Good. They haven't broken in yet," It said to itself in a whisper. The voice was feminine, and very seductive for no real reason. It felt authoritative, and stern, but had a gentle edge, with a rough exterior to sound a bit tough. The woman flipped a switch on the device, turned on the monitors, and sat down in the chair, letting the soft pale blue light wash over her.

Ginger gazed at the device, waiting for it to finish booting up. It hardly made any noise at all, besides a nearly extinct hum in the expanse of noiselessness. A soft buzz came over her earpiece, "How's the data look?" said a familiar male voice. A detective of sorts it sounded like, complete with the sound of cigarettes, whiskey, and a hardworking, but easy demeanor. "Rei showing any signs of development? How's Asuka? That dream probably sent her for a loop."

"No shit," she said quietly, "You made her have a miscarriage. No sixteen year old girl should go through that shit. Dream or not."

"Well it's all a dream to them right?" Vick said, with a large sigh.

"It's pretty fucking real to them. Shit. You know how hard it was to make Rei believe she was a clone? The nth numbered one too!? So many memory wipes. So many. Seriously. I am sure we messed her up for good." Ginger replied, getting louder as she went.

"SHHH! Quiet! Don't wanna wake 'em! How much of the formula is left in the machine?"

"The readings are showing it still has about 3 days left. I hope you guys are almost done in the lab with all those 'renovations'."

"What's that supposed to mean? That should be good for then. They are finishing up everything at the lab tonight."

"They better be. Keeping these kids delusional is harder than it seems. Also, why the FUCK do I have to wear such a short skirt? Why did you guys make that Misato girl so… so…."

"Sexual? Cause why not? Shinji already has mommy and daddy issues. Why not get him attracted to older women too?"

"Like that is working, the tests show he is more into Rei. A blank slate person. Creepy."

"Yeah. Those readings are… strange to say the least. What kind of fucked up shit did they do to him in the lab? What memories was he implanted with? I mean, I know the dying mom thing, and the dad never being around thing, but can that really screw someone up that much? So much that they are more interested in a person that is…. Not a person?"

"Don't ask me man. We'll check in on him tomorrow, right now, I need to wipe Rei's memory again. She put her glasses on today."

"Shit. How the fuck does that stay with you? I guess it is a morning routine. I mean, everyone brushes their teeth when they wake up still right? You know the code for it?"

"For her room? Yeah, I helped set this shit up before it came in. I know what I am doing."

"Alright, I'll hop off here and let you get to work. Don't make too much noise. We don't want our experiments waking up." Another buzz and Vick is gone.

"Figures he would forget," Ginger said, typing away quickly on the keyboard. "Damn that Vick. Why'd he model that girl after me? I mean… it's flattering, but dammit! And then he goes and models that Kaji character after him! What an ego he has. Jeez," She takes a sip of coffee from a thermos. "Gotta get this done. The memory wipe shouldn't take too long. Once that is done, I'll be able to get outta here and back outside. I got a date in a few hours." She typed away quickly at the keyboard, the Misato look alike acting much like the Misato that the Children know.

_I hear typing_. Asuka shot up out of bed. _What is that smell!? I can taste it even! _She shook her head and covered her mouth and nose with her thick blanket. "God," She said under thick cloth. She fumbled around for something that NERV HQ always told them to keep handy; their first aid kit. She found it by her bed, and rifled through it, finding the small respirator mask. She activated it easily, and slipped it on. The smell dissipated as she took long and slow breaths. Once calmed, she took in her surroundings. It was dark in her room, and she could barely make out the noise now due to the hiss of the gas coming in from somewhere. _There were terrorists! That idiot was right!_ She thought to herself as she made her way to the door. The hallway was not much better. The kitchen was bare, and the television was not on. Outside it was quite dark except for the pale moonlight. She went over to flip the light switch, but stumbled on something. A pair of heels?

"What the hell!? Misato is here!?" She said, muffled by the mask. She got up and flipped the light on. Everything looked normal, except the light coming from the locked room. She moved slowly over to it, the gas still pouring into her room with its nearly silent hissing. She cracked the door slightly, and there before her, was Misato, listening to something on a headset and typing away at a keyboard. "_What the hell is going on!?_" She thought and said at the same time. Misato turned around, gasped, threw her headphones off, and rushed to the door. "Is everything alright Asuka? You must be having a bad dream," She said hastily as she tried to push the door closed. Asuka pushed back, keeping it open. "Now I think it's time you wake up from this weird dream. There's no need to worry alright? Just… close… the door…" She was straining now. She fumbled with something in her bag Asuka could see. She put on a gasmask of some kind, and then hit a button on Asuka's. Asuka's mask ejected a different gas into her airways. Her eyes felt heavy, and her body felt numb. She slumped to the ground and could barely keep herself conscious. The last thing she heard was Misato over some radio, "Vick, we got a breach. I need Evac and Medical on Subject 3 and I."


	2. Chapter 2

A field of flowers, lilacs to be precise, wave in the wind of the setting sun. Orange and red hues sprinkle the sky with a pleasant and warming glow. She stands there, gazing at me, atop a hill. The breeze through the flowers whispers a tune that is all too familiar. The sound of freedom; the sound of wonder and joy; the angels know the song like they know how high their halos sit atop their heads; and the animals know it just as they know their mating calls. This I have heard before, but each time, it is different. Fathomless wonder assault my mind as I make my way to her. I wave to her to catch her attention, and she waves back as well. I hurry on and rush through the flowers, feeling the sun set as I near. Atop the hill with her, I walk slowly. She does not move. Once I reach her, a flash of light appears, and I am greeted with nothing but a mirrored cage. I can view the rolling hills of lilacs, and I can see the sun setting with its gorgeous colors; but I cannot feel them anymore. I cannot brush my hand along the flowers; I cannot feel the wind against my face; I feel the warm sun touching my skin. All I can feel is the coldness of my cube, my prison, my confinement, and gaze at myself; a woman of alabaster skin, demonic red eyes, and hair the color of silver and blue. I talk, but no one answers; I sing, but no one listens, and I wait, but no one ever comes to save me.

Rei's eyes creak open once the dream ended. _The same as always_. She thought to herself. The dream has stayed with her for as long as she could remember. From when she could first dream; that dream was all she could really think about. Each day was just another day of trying to understand it. Now however, she felt no closer to understanding it then when she first remembered it. She sat up and moved her feet to the floor, feeling the weight of sleep catch her slightly. She stumbles putting her house shoes on, but recovers swiftly. She knew what she was, but she could not let the others know. She had lived this life many times before. She had been alive before, and had prior memories, but she could not recall which number she was in the cycle. The last number she remembered was six; so perhaps that was her reincarnation that she was on. _It's just the same. _

She walked over to her desk in her room, sat down at it and opened a journal of sorts; a journal of her past lives so to speak. She flipped through it, looking at each page slowly. Each one read the same thing with slight variation.

Name: Rei Ayanami

Birthdate: ?-?-?

What do I remember?: I am Rei Ayanami. A father figure I look to is Gendo Ikari, Shinji's father. I feel close to Shinji Ikari. I pilot EVA UNIT-00, the prototype EVA with exceptional skill. I had the same dream tonight as I have for some time. Looking at myself on a hill. Purple flowers. Setting sun. Mirror prison. I like the color blue. My eyesight is not perfect. I have red eyes. I am fourteen years old?

The last sentence, about her age, and about her eyesight, never seemed right. She could see fine. She did not feel 14 years old. She felt much older. That was beside the point however. Rei took a pen and began writing on the next page.

Name: Rei Ayanami

Birthdate: ?-?-?

What do I remember?: I am Rei Ayanami. A father figure I look to is Gendo Ikari, Shinji's father. I feel close to Shinji Ikari. I pilot EVA UNIT-00, the prototype EVA with exceptional skill. I had the same dream tonight as I have for some time. Looking at myself on a hill. Purple flowers. Setting sun. Mirror prison. I like the color blue. My eyesight is alright. I have red eyes. I am not fourteen years old. I feel older.

She felt like this would become the routine soon. She closed the book and dressed, grabbing a pair of glasses and placing them on her face before leaving the room. She felt awkward with them on, and felt as if she did not need them, so she went back and placed them in the spot they were in. _Why do I have those? Did I… need them before? _

No one was awake yet. Rei moved over and sat down in front of the television, in what she deemed Asuka's spot. Asuka took up the couch in the morning, making Shinji cook breakfast and making Rei sit elsewhere, but the couch always looked comfortable. At first she sat with her hands atop her lap, but gradually fell over into the soft couch. It felt quite relaxing to simply let oneself go and embrace the action of 'being lazy,' as Asuka put it. She heard a door close and immediately sat up, placing her hands back in her lap. "Good morning Asuk… Rei? Is Asuka not up yet?" Shinji exclaimed from the hallway. Rei shook her head, not knowing how to respond. She felt something nagging in the back of her mind, but she could not place it. "Well… Do you… want something to eat Rei?" He said, making his way to the kitchen.

"Toast with jam," She said, staring blankly at him. _The same as always._

Breakfast was uneventful. No one spoke. Asuka still had not come out of her room. "She never misses breakfast."

Rei shook her head.

"Can you think of any reason why she wouldn't wanna come out here?" Shinji asked, but received another blank eyed shaking head from Rei.

"Should we… check on her?"

"Perhaps," She replied in the same dry, quiet tone as the day before.

"Alright… let's… let's go."

Shinji stood up from the kitchen table and made his way slowly with Rei in tow. They crept through the hallway, trying not to wake the demon that could possibly still be sleeping in its room. They moved up to the door and knocked as quietly as they could. No response was heard on the other end. "Asuka? Are you awake?" Shinji asked timidly. The sound of silence permeated the area of the apartment soon after his question remained unanswered.

"Is she there?" Rei asked finally to break the silence.

With a shrug Shinji turned back and knocked louder. Shinji slid the door open after the fourth knock, and looked inside. Asuka's bed lay there without its owner, the sheets turned back in a rush. "What happened?" Rei asked as she looked in, that same dry tone now gaining some form of emotion; shock and puzzlement.

"Asuka? Are you in here?" Shinji asked again before entering.

They both looked around, finding little besides a note that looks to be in Misato's handwriting. Once back in the kitchen they read over the note together.

"Hey Shinji! Hey Rei! Just letting you know, Asuka's fine. I figured you two would go snooping in on her eventually, so I took the liberty to write this out beforehand. Now, don't worry. Asuka is fine. We just have to run to the lab for a bit for some tests with her EVA. You're tests will be coming up soon! You better be studying! We should be back by tomorrow morning, so don't be worrying. I'll be dropping her off and I might have time to swing by so you all better be preparing a big dinner for me!

See ya!

Misato"

The handwriting is undeniably Misato's. Rei goes back to the living room, watching the scenery outside the window with her knees curled up around her chest. Birds sing as they fly through the air and the clouds roll by peacefully and serenely. _This feels… familiar. _She thought to herself. _But… not the same either. _

"I guess there is not much we can do. Um… do you wanna watch TV?" Shinji suggested.

With a light nod, Rei turned to the television, waiting for whatever program Shinji would pick so they could pass the time until lunch.

"Now what happened? How'd she get in?" Vick's voice felt hollow in the car.

"Don't ask me! I thought I locked the door behind me!" Ginger's voice sounded frazzled and panicked. The breach was almost an hour ago. Luckily no one else had woken up once Asuka hit the floor. Her mask had fallen off, but Ginger had slipped it back on to keep administering the gas to keep her asleep. They rode in Vick's car, a cramped SUV due to all the equipment he moved around for the experiment.

"Alright. Well. How else did she get in? Was she not sleeping?"

"As far as I know, yes. They always go to bed at about the same time. They don't deviate because they can't leave! Asuka must have stayed up cause of that dream you guys made me put in!" She said, punching his arm a little.

"Shit! Sorry! I didn't think it would have that much of an effect! We'll get her to AGP-1 and get her put under. Her cell is complete anyway. The other two should be completed tomorrow."

"Ahead of schedule? Man, how much money did you give those guys?"

"Don't ask me. Ask the Project creator. He's the one who's got dough. I don't know why he volunteered his own son into it, but damn, he is serious."

"Whoa what? Shinji is Director Lain's son?"

"Yup. Sure is. Dunno why he did it though. Makes sense why they made him the first subject though. He's been through the most shit, that's for sure."

"I beg to differ but whatever."

"Who has then?"

She looked at him, dead in the eyes. "Do you know how long it took to fix Rei's memory? Director Lain gave us a schedule she needed to follow. Any deviation from that, we needed to erase it and fix it. Each time she brushed her teeth before brushing her hair, bam; gone. Every time she puts on those glasses and realizes she sees better with them on, bam; memories gone. We have to keep her a hollow shell so that the memories we imprint will take. But imprinting those memories while the others are already imprinted? It's fucking hard. Her brain doesn't get why the memories of the last week aren't good enough. It doesn't understand how remembering to put on her glasses is a bad thing now. It is so hard wired… That it might just break soon. Those memories might come back. That's why we need to hurry and use the final imprinting method on her. It's the only way to finish it and make her what the Director wants her to be."

"We can't final imprint anyone. That means that she can't, and won't, ever be herself again. That's the last phase of the Project; reintroduction into society. Final imprinting fucks that all up, unless the director has a way to take off final imprints."

"Like that is going to happen Vick. How many reintroduction experiments have worked? I've seen a few, but they all ended with the subject dying in right at or less than five years. Would that be a success for the Director? I doubt it. If so, we work for one fucked up man."

"I don't know his mind, but I hope it is not that extreme."

"We are erasing minds of people and making them think their lives are extraordinary. Subject 1: a twenty year old male that is smaller, shorter, but has a great personality, reduced to a whiney twenty year old who things he is fourteen years old and now despises his father, because he thinks he does not care about him at all. Oh! And he thinks his mother is dead! Subject 2: An eighteen year old girl who signed up for the Project as a test subject; she was recommended for the Project because she had no family to speak of and had only two friends she could rightfully name. She was reduced from a bubbly and happy eighteen year old, to a clean slate of near perfection. She doesn't have a care in the world because she has no idea what the world is right now. And finally, subject 3: a nineteen year old, vibrant, smart, and agile woman who was, and still is, an up and coming in the field of gymnastics. She signed up thinking it would be a good 'PR stunt' as her agent put it. She is now a bitchy and mean fourteen year old girl who thinks she is the best thing in the world. She also thinks it's her fault that her mom killed herself!" Ginger ended the explanation with a yell. "Yes Vick, our Director Lain is one fucked up man."

Silence was the sole topic of conversation while the car began rolling into AGP-1; a building that enclosed a lab with tanks for the subjects to interact and have their facilitated memories worked. Everything was simulated up until they were removed to the apartment. The lab was being redone, and the subjects could not stay in their tanks. The time out, a total of three weeks, had damaged their fragile psyches greatly, but with the most fragile of them going back, the rest of the project should be underway once more.

"We're here. Let's get her inside and hooked up to her tank. I don't know how much gas that mask has in it," Ginger replied as they pulled up.

The drive to the new lab from the apartment is not a long one. Twenty minutes at most for the SUV that Vick drives. They took the twenty one year old limp body and deposited her in the same tank as before, hooking her up with all the necessary equipment before starting the simulations once more and submerging her.

"There. Mission accomplished. Med already took care of you before I got there right?" Vick asked before heading to his car.

"Yeah don't worry. Just got spooked is all. Thanks Vick." She said with a smile.

"Alright, good. I'll see ya around," he said with a wave.

"Vick, could you… drop me off by my apartment?"

"Why's that?"

"I didn't bring my car with me. I left it there and got my friend to drop me off. I'm sorry."

"Sure. Why not? You need to drop by the Project apartment again? You remembered to lock the doors right?"

A flush of worry went over Ginger. Her bare legs in her skirt shivered and she could feel the goosebumps flowing over her. But then it subsided, once she remembered how she left the apartment.

"Yup. Locked the doors. No worries."

Shinji glanced down the hall and saw a pale light coming from the cracked door of the locked room. It was cracked, due to the lock being turned, without the door being fully closed. Once Rei had gone to bed, Shinji made his way down the hall, not wanting her to worry about anything. _Who's there? Misato? Asuka? Did they get back early?_

He moved down the hall with a sloth's stride. Finally reaching the door, he opened it, and saw the setup of computer wires and all the different gadgets attached to it, along with the filtration system for their air vents. He saw it all, and understood none of it. He moved forward to the small stack of papers, and rifled through them, looking for anything he could understand, and then he found it; something that made sense to him. He found the project goals for him, Rei, and Asuka. He read them the over and over, until his mind could not take it anymore. Shinji, or rather, Franklin Lain, stared at his hands and the expanse of technology before him, and thought about tearing it apart; his two personalities battling it out for what he should do in the next minute before the knockout and amnesia gas kicked in. His brain, not being able to handle the stress and strain, made him exit the room, and lock it with the key that was still in the door. He threw the key down the garbage disposal before the gas began to start spewing. Franklin Lain, now Shinji Ikari once more, passed out on the couch, inches from his freedom.


	3. Chapter 2 (Extra)

Project Angelus Confidential E-mail #1:

To: All Employees

From: George Lain, Director of Project Angelus

Subject: Good News Everyone!

Team,

Congratulations! Because of your hard work and effort, we have been recognized by the Psychological Testing Association (PTA) for our advancement in memory suggestion and amnesia medicines! They have told us that once we can successfully imprint the subjects' original memories; we will be funded for our next project and many more to come! This is a great opportunity we have and we must not fail! Let's keep up the good work and keep going strong. As always, Ginger and Vick, you two are in charge of the direct contact with the subjects, but Diana and I will be coming around to help as best we can. Stephanie, I was told that there may be a problem with one of the links to Subject 2, so have your team check back with us if you spot anything wrong with them.

Aside from that, keep up the good work and never give up! We are going to make dreams reality and allow everyone to get their memories back!

Good Luck!

George Lain

Director of Project Angelus

Project Angelus Confidential E-mail #2

To: Project Leads

From George Lain, Director of Project Angelus

Subject: Subject 1, 2, and 3's core goals: Outline

Hello everyone!

As you have probably already read the extended outline in your handbook, I'm sending this email out so you can alter and send it to the employees under you. They do not need to know the full extent of Project Angelus; I thought that went without saying. Since Chief Project Leader A. Martin tried to undermine us, I am taking certain precautions now to make sure no one that does not need to see this knows about what we are doing. Below is what you all can alter and send out, but please keep it close to this. Make your own foreword for it if you wish.

Subject 1 Goals:

Subject 1 is to be wiped of memories (which are stored in backup for final imprinting later) and given manufactured memories to facilitate a different world entirely. Upon becoming immersed into this world fully and believing it real, we will begin extracting those memories, and his experiences, saving them, and then imprinting him with his memories from before the experiment, and reintroducing him to the world.

Subject 2 is to be wiped of memories (which are stored in backup for final imprinting later) and given no memories except the bare minimums of certain memories, as well as the basics of the world in which Subject 1 is in. This is to help keep memories in line. This experiment is to see if one can regain lost abilities or help with certain problems, such as eyesight, or biting your nails, or more severe problems. Upon retrieving this data, we will then imprint her with her memories from before the experiment, and reintroduce her into the world.

Subject 3 is to be wiped of memories (which are stored in backup for final imprinting, if final imprinting is to be used) and given some psychological issues to deal with, along with memories in the same world as Subject 1 and Subject 2. This is to help keep the memories in line. We will then attempt to reintroduce her into the world by a series of tests and visual, audio, and personal aides. If reintroduction, or new memories are not made, or subject is unwilling to cooperate, we will imprint her memories stored from prior to the experiment and reintroduce her that way.

Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please ask your Project/Team Lead.

George Lain

Director of Project Angelus

Project Angelus Confidential E-mail #3

To: All Employees

From: George Lain, Director of Project Angelus

Subject: Subject 3 Breach

Everyone,

Tonight, after a routine maintenance check on the subjects, Subject 3 breached its simulation. After moving the subjects to their simulated space, and administering the formula for their memory blocking and regulation, Subject 3 made it into the control room of the simulated space. Ginger Chandler, the simulated space controller at the time, was swift in her decisions and administered fast acting sleeping gas on Subject 3. With AGP-1 nearing completion, and some of the lab ready, Subject 3 was put back into its simulation tank. We hope that this will not have any effect on our experiment, and we hope that we will be able to complete it soon. Thank you all for your cooperation and help in this time!

Thank you!

George Lain

Director of Project Angelus

Project Angelus Confidential E-mail #4

To: Project Leads

From: George Lain, Director of Project Angelus  
Subject: Intentions

Team,

I do not know who you think you are fucking with, but you all need to straighten up now. This is a delicate operation we are running and I do not want anything to fuck with the simulations. DO NOT DEVIATE FROM THE ANGEL DESIGNS I PROVIDED. Understood? What the fuck is that Shamshel creature you all made? Regardless, do not deviate please. As soon as I find out who did it, and who authorized it, you won't be coming back to work. I have thought this experiment through a thousand times and I do not need you all fucking it up. If you want to keep your jobs, re-imprint the correct memory over that one and we will have no problems, understood?

Good luck

George Lain

Director of Project Angelus


	4. Chapter 3 (Final)

The days pass slowly in the simulation tank. Subject 3, drifting weightlessly in fluids that regulate body temperature and keep the subject from feeling anything except the stimuli given, hardly moves. The synapses in her mind, firing like machine guns, trying to understand all the information being fed to her at once, can hardly keep up. Wave after wave of stress and emotions roll through her as she passes through days of memories; her body morphs slowly, growing with each day of training in her mind. She is physically fit without ever touching weights, running a step, or practicing any agility tests of any kind. Her reactions are lightning fast, and she is in sync with a fictional robot dreamed up by a man; a man passionate about experiencing his wildest dreams as if they were real. A project, masked in a great victory over a disease plaguing many, as well as winning a war on the entertainment industry, that if shown to the public would be inhumane and insane. Subject 3, now being immersed in her tank for upwards of 14 hours to get her stable once more, began a day cycle in her mind, and began thinking on her own.

Asuka woke up to the sound of birds chirping and cars moving around. Tokyo-3, after being damaged multiple times, recovered extremely well after the last angel attack. Israfel, the codename given to the Angel, was a strange one, as Asuka and Shinji had to work in sync to fight them. However, that night, Shinji, as well as Rei and Misato, were nowhere to be found. _What's going on? Normally we have some kind of dinner party at the apartment… _She thought to herself, looking back on the past Angel's she had vanquished alongside her comrades. "Why?" She asked out loud, to the ceiling. She laid there, her arms and legs stretching as far as she could put them, her gown barely covering herself. She felt different, very different. Her body seemed smaller, more fragile than before. Her apartment space, it didn't feel as… heavy? Weighed down? The words wouldn't come. Nothing felt right. She sat up and began looking through boxes; boxes upon boxes that she never opened due to the space being so small. She looked through them all, and knew where everything was. Clothes here, random appliances there, toiletries and towels in another box near the door; it was all there. Why did it feel so different now though? She went to the others rooms, and knocked on them. "Wake up you two. We need to talk." She said with authority in her voice.

Rei did not respond, but Shinji did. "Asuka let it wait till morning. I'm tired," He said, whiney as always.

"No. This needs to happen. Now. Something doesn't feel right," She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something strange going on. In the back of her mind, it nagged at her. Shinji did not budge in his feelings for rest. After a small moment of silence he replied, "Please Asuka. I can't get up right now. I'm too sore." _Figures he wouldn't be any help. Dammit Shinji. _Asuka went back to her room and sat for a moment, thinking about what it could be; thoughts of her training, fighting Angels, the dancing with Shinji for the last battle, elevator rides with Misato, Kaji, Ritsuko, and the others. It all felt so real, so vibrant and sound. But in the back of her mind, something told her this wasn't right. She dressed herself in some sweats, slipped on her shoes, and headed out the door to greet the night sky and head to somewhere where she might get some answers; NERV HQ.

The Neural Enhancing Respiriscence Virtual computer program, or N.E.R.V. as the techs on the Angelus Project called it to keep the theme consistent, began to report erratic patterns of data in Subject 3. "She's supposed to be asleep. What's going on?" One tech said to the other. "Don't look at me man. The system is going haywire 'cause she left her designated area. If she keeps going, we'll have to either pull the plug on her, or start fabricating memories on the fly. You know what happened the last time we fucked with the Director's plan? I'd sooner pull her out than let her keep running."

"The shock could kill her! That's not an option. Where is she running to?"

"Her memories show that she is going to NERV HQ. I can make the basic layout of the place, but no one will be there."

"Do it. It's all we can do now. With Director Lain gone and Steph not here yet we'll have to improvise. How long until she gets there?"

"Her memory run speed is… She's in the elevator!"

"Shit! I'll get Steph on the phone ASAP! Keep her in there if you can!"

The elevator stopped suddenly, throwing Asuka off balance and into the floor. "What the hell's going on?" She said as she got herself back up. She moved over to the panel, and hit the button for her floor again. Still, no movement. "Am I stuck here now? Great. Just great!" _Now who am I supposed to talk to? Myself? _Time passes as she thought on everything that had happened to her in the past few days. She had saved the Earth once again, with the help of her friends, and danced with Shinji to stop them. It was a strange fight, but it all worked out. She slid her back down the elevator wall and kept thinking. What happened after that though? _Usually Misato and Kaji come over and eat… right? They had before… didn't they?_

"Sir, something's wrong!" said the tech trying to construct a memory passage for Asuka to reach the inside of NERV HQ. "She's about to break. We imprinted a false memory!"

"Are you shitting me!? Can you fix it before she realizes it?"

"I'm trying sir!" The tech's fingers were already typing as fast as they could. Lines upon lines of blue code ran through the screen of the N.E.R.V. computer, but none could catch up to how fast the red code was moving. "Sir, she's about to breach. She's going to wake up!"

"What the hell is going on? None of my… none of my memories make sense. Misato should be..." Asuka's mind was all over the place. Shinji, Rei, and Asuka all should be looked after by some of the NERV employees in some way. Usually, the Second Section Men in Black are the quickest to respond, but… "Where is everyone?" Asuka began to think back on it now and, nothing really seemed real or substantial. Seeing Shinji and Rei, talking to Ritsuko and Misato, as well as hugging Kaji; she could not place any actual feelings to them. She didn't remember the smell of the place, she didn't remember the taste of the food Shinji cooked that morning, and she didn't remember the sweet and enticing smell of Misato's perfume like that day she went into the locked room in the apartment. _Wait… _

"That room is open now and… where did all that equipment go? Why couldn't we leave then and how did I get here? I ran from the apartment… So I got out the door… so…What… what…"

The time came, and no one on either side of the simulation was ready. Asuka awoke from her simulated reality, and breached the containment tank. Luckily she had a breathing tube, as well as plenty of oxygen in the fluids, so she was in no fear of drowning, but waking up to see all of those people in regular attire and rush her; it scared her to death. Handling a naked nineteen year old woman bathed in fluids akin to embryonic fluid is quite the challenge as well, and with her fight or flight response and adrenaline pumping, she threw many of the Angelus Project employees off of her. She unhooked herself from everything quickly, and ran; she just ran. She wanted away from where she was. She ran through the halls of the facility she was in, and found another room like hers. Recognizing the girl inside, she ran over and began hitting the tank before anyone stopped her. Rei woke up quickly, and breached as well. Asuka grabbed onto her, with many employees on her back, and pulled Rei out of the tank as well. They both sat on the ground, Asuka covering herself with Rei's body, and sobbing into her shoulder. "It was all a lie Rei… That life… It was… It was…" Another deep sob came from her. Rei simply stared into the eyes of the employees, unable to fully comprehend what had happened.

Shinji, or Franklin Lain, was woken up soon after, with his prior memories implanted. He was back to the well liked and understood twenty year old man as before. His father, now under suspicion for many different charges, did not meet him once he was imprinted. His father had one last job for him however; if the project were to end horribly, or end completely, Franklin was to be imprinted with his memories atop the memories of Shinji Ikari, thus making the two one in the same. This would allow him to help Asuka Langley Soryu, real name Amanda Carter, and Rei Ayanami, real name Tiffany Bloom, deal with the realization that the world they had lived in their minds was not the real world. Tiffany was perhaps the toughest case, with her friends coming to see her and hardly recognizing her. Amanda was fairly hard as well. Her agent, and her family and friends came to see her, but she never really interacted with them. Amanda, after being talked to by Franklin about why she wouldn't interact at all, said that everything felt very "strange and off-putting. As if everything I see I cannot trust anymore." Tiffany also spoke, saying that, "This was new," and that she needed her journal to record what was going on in this cycle of life.

The project was a disaster, and after his trial, George Lain was imprisoned for all of the charges filed against him. Many of the employees also were taken to jail. Amanda and Tiffany spent most of their time in sessions with counselors and Franklin, trying to piece together their broken psyche and bring them back to their old selves.

"It'll never work," Amanda said, being very vocal as usual, "Do you know the feeling of having something stripped away from you? Take that and make it an entire life. My parents are dead, but they are right in front of me. They aren't my real family, and they call me by a name I don't recognize. I am Asuka Langley Soryu, not Amanda Carter. I have fought alien beings that tower taller than skyscrapers. I don't want this normal life. Gymnastics? Are you joking? That's stupid. This is stupid. This whole place is stupid. Take me back and fill me back up with those mind games you guys made. I want nothing of this shit you call a world."

Tiffany, in the same session, hardly spoke, as usual. The most she uttered that day, the last day the two were alive, was "My name is Rei Ayanami. I do not have a birthday. I look up to Gendo Ikari as a father. I feel close to Shinji Ikari. I have red eyes, and I like the color blue."

Amanda was found dead in her room, asphyxiated by the sheet of her bed that was tied up in a noose fashion. There were no beams in the room, but she chocked herself on the bed post by tying the noose around herself and then pulling it tight. Tiffany on the other hand is not alive, but she is not dead either. She does not respond to external stimuli, and remains catatonic for most of the day. The only time she moves is around eight in the morning, where she request toast with jam for breakfast, and then curls her knees into her chest and stares blankly wherever her eyes go.

It is supposed, that both of them, coped with their fate as best they could. Tiffany simply repeats what her mind was taught to do, while Amanda wanted back into the life she led before, so she could establish some sense of normalcy. Their true lives and the reality they faced were too much to handle with their fragile minds and their mix of memories.

Dreams, memories, and reality are all very fragile things to the mind.


End file.
